Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The National Pastime’s pinnacle event begins. It was once said that it was foretold by being written in the stars, a million miles away… hang on, stars are a lot farther than a million miles away! Weird.

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Kind of bummed that Game 1 is tonight. One of the movie theaters here is getting in on TCM's one-night showing of Frankenstein & Bride or Frankenstein. More insult to injury is that the 7 p.m. start time for the double bill likely means the game won't have even started by time the first movie is over.

Anyway, I'm curious to see how Detroit stacks up against a team that actually puts the ball in play.

Its an iffy rotation set up for the giants. Over the last month, with each starter, you have no clue whos going to show up.

Game 1- Bary Pitched great in game 5 by having good control and limiting the walks. Walks generally kill him. He was still hit pretty hard, though, but many went right to fielders, and some were just great plays. If the tigers are more patient, or Zito loses a bit of control this could be over quickly. It may not matter if the giants cant score off of Verlander though.

Game 2 - Bumgarner - Huge issues in the last month. he claims that was a mechanical issue of over rotation that he has worked on and fixed in the last two days. This apparently affected his control, and fatiqued him more which dropped his velocity. If he is right and is the Bumgarner of 2 months ago, this will be a great matchup and the giants would be favorites, but...

Game 3 - Voggy - HAve not read what was the difference between game 6 and the previous month. Who will show up though? Again, not a recent record of consistency.

Game 4 - Cain - He has issues off and on, but overlall his variation is been much lower, and he has been the most consistent of all the , so its a shame he can only start 1 game.

Overall its a bit of a crapshoot. Im thinking the giants need all of them to be on the up side of the variations to win 2 or more of the first 4 games.

I have no predictions on the offence.... except I expect Cabrera to be nails...

What's the weather forecast? I guess I could look it up showers likely today in SF, tonight cloudy with a low in the 50s. Basically, what else is new. Longer-term, it looks like a cold front will hit Detroit about the time the two clubs start play there on Saturday.

What's the weather forecast? I guess I could look it up … showers likely today in SF, tonight cloudy with a low in the 50s. Basically, what else is new. Longer-term, it looks like a cold front will hit Detroit about the time the two clubs start play there on Saturday.
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I think the Giants would really welcome a little ninth-inning weather over the next few days.

this showed up on insider today. it's probably not the best time for it to pop up:

Justin Verlander is a freak, there's no doubting this, how many pitchers can throw 100+ pitches almost every time out on the mound and go deep in every start and still hit 100 on the gun? The list is short and may only be perennial Cy Young candidate Verlander. When will all of that wear and tear on his elbow and shoulder begin to take a toll? Detroit doesn't want to find out, indications from a rival front office are that, once the World Series is over, Tigers GM David Dombrowski is going to look to deal his power righty for a young controllable replacement. One of the intriguing names that keeps popping up is Philadelphia's Cyle Kendrick. When asked about Kendrick Dombrowski said, "I'm not going to comment specifically about players under contract to other teams, but whenever you have a chance to get a guy like Kendrick, you have to do what you can. Pitchers like Kendrick don't grow on trees, he has that hard sink and fights like a bull dog every time he takes the mound. He'd be a great addition to any team." Kendrick is especially intriguing for Detroit due to his $4.5 MM salary next season, which is 15.5 MM less than Verlander. Freeing up that much salary space could be a huge boon to a team that is dealing with bloated contracts to Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera.

When asked about Kendrick Dombrowski said, "I'm not going to comment specifically about players under contract to other teams, but whenever you have a chance to get a guy like Kendrick, you have to do what you can.

This is a prank, right? Only makes sense if Cyle (?) Kendrick is some kind of amalgam of Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick.

Cain - He has issues off and on, but overlall his variation is been much lower, and he has been the most consistent of all the , so its a shame he can only start 1 game.

Why is he not starting Game Three (and Seven if necessary)? Game Three is Saturday night which would be his normal day and while it pushes Vogelsong into the one and done I'd rather have Cain than Vogelsong in Game Seven if I were a Giant fan. Also, Vogeglson has relief experience in his background so if he was used out of the 'pen in Game Six or Seven I'd think he would be more comfortable than Cain in that role.

Could Vogelsong go on short rest tomorrow? He threw 102 pitches the other night, most with a comfortable lead. Given how Bumgarner has looked lately I think I'd rather get the extra start to Vogelsong. Bumgarner seems to be pitching like a guy who is tired. Even if Vogelsong can only go 5 innings tomorrow the Giants have a pretty strong and deep bullpen behind him.

Okay, so let's see what the Tigers have:
1. A 29-year-old ace who is unquestionably the best pitcher in baseball
2. Who is also the most marketable and likable baseball player this side of guys like Derek Jeter and Joe Mauer
3. Who has an elastic arm
4. Who seems to be threatening to throw a no-hitter every time he starts..
5. Who by all accounts seems to like being in Detroit...

So, clearly, they must trade this person! It's the only move that makes sense!

Gamingboy, there will almost certainly be reference to Verlander still not having a hit in his career. And not only to Verlander's shellacking at the ASG, but the fact that it determined home field for the Series.

According the the SF Chron, that is Bochys plan... game 4 for Cain. I like Game 2 for vogy, three for cain, and bum in 4... but that is not was Bochy has ordered... I supposed I really shouldnt question him given his remarkable sucess rate... but...

Based on nothing more than watching a lot of Tigers games this year, it seemed like the infield defense lacked range, but didn't make nearly as many Benny Hill-type errors as I think a lot of us expected after we learned of the Prince deal.

The only Giants to face Verlander 10+ times are Huff and Scutaro, and neither has had much success.

Thankfully for Giants fans, we'll only see Huff in this series if the cameras decide to pan over to the dugout to capture a shot of Huff standing next to a Prince Fielder cardboard cutout in an effort to look more svelte.

Yes, Sabathia got hit around in Game 4 of the LCS, but his team was already down 3-0, so the championship probability didn't change much. Cain and Vogelsong both have positive value as hitters so far; Vogelsong has enough extra there to move him up to fourth if you count it.

Valverde... that's rather dreadful. His postseason has been equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to Verlander's, and nobody here needs to be told how impressive a postseason Verlander is having. And his team is in the Series despite his... contributions.

Kind of bummed that Game 1 is tonight. One of the movie theaters here is getting in on TCM's one-night showing of Frankenstein & Bride or Frankenstein. More insult to injury is that the 7 p.m. start time for the double bill likely means the game won't have even started by time the first movie is over.

That's funny. I just got back from a double bill of Dracula and Frankenstein, and this was the first post I read here. I was kind of bummed because during Game 1 TCM (at least in Canada) was showing The Raven (Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and a young Jack Nicholson) followed by the Bela Lugosi version of Murders in the Rue Morgue, which has the best plot summary ever ("A carnival sideshow entertainer kidnaps prostitutes off the streets of Paris to mix their blood with that of his pet gorilla. Horror **").

Joe Buck has seemed a bit more animated this post season. I wonder if the health scare caused him to appreciate what a great job he has. He would hardly be the first person to have a health situation change his outlook.

Unlike me about the cleaver! (Anyhow, those things are expensive, I think I'll ebay it. If PreservedFish or McCoy show up - or any other meat-cooking person - any cleaver opinions would be appreciated.)

I've asked this before, but that play is a good example. Is the key when the ball hits the mitt, or when it's actually controlled? That fraction of a second between when ball hits leather and the glove squeezes around it could make a difference in a play that close.

I'm buying my GF a cleaver for her birthday. I hope that's not a bad idea.

Gifts to wives and girlfriends should be romantic or personal, rather than practical. Your GF may be aberrational, but I fear your are about to make a mistake. For which you may pay a heavy price. For a long time. Good luck.

I've asked this before, but that play is a good example. Is the key when the ball hits the mitt, or when it's actually controlled. That fraction of a second between when ball hits leather and the glove squeezes around it could make a difference in a play that close.

The umpires are taught to listen for the ball hitting the mitt and watch the feet of the fielder and the runner so my guess is the ball hitting leather is how it's called.